Month: July 2018

This special oil is made from semi ripe olives crushed with fresh lemongrass and tarragon. We use 1200g of semi-ripe olives to produce 100ml of this cold extracted oil. It has a very fresh flavour and intense aromas. And pairs perfectly with fish and green vegetables. Think of some grilled whole sea bass. Or some steamed cod. Freshly cut crunchy vegetables. This olive oil.

But we will not prepare fish this week. How are we going to use it? We are making a very summery salad. With zucchini, corn and feta cheese. The combination of flavours is familiar, but this flavoured olive oil takes it to a whole other level. We used corn on the cob because it’s in season. Please do, it’s easy to handle and tastes so much better than the frozen or tinned one!

Place the corn in a large pot of salted water. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook until the kernels are tender, around 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once the corn is cool enough to handle, remove the kernels. To do so, place your corn vertically against your chopping board. Running the knife parallel to the corn, remove all kernels. They should fall on your board. Collect and place in a large bowl.

Cut your zucchini in thin rounds. Blanch for 5 minutes –or until tender- in a large pot with boiling salted water. You can use the water from the corn. Drain and place in a large bowl with ice water to cool it down. Drain again. You can skip this step and just use raw zucchini. Place your zucchini in the bowl with the corn.

The word melitzanosalata in Greek means aubergine salad. But despite its name, it is not a salad. It’s a spread, or you can call it a dip, it’s a creamy thing anyways. In Greece this is the dish to go for at any taverna by the beach. It is even better with rounds or fried aubergine. You know, fried aubergine dipped into an aubergine spread. Double your pleasure. You can even add a couple of tablespoons of melitzanosalata to last week’s salad.

Of course, summer is the season to get the best aubergines around. And make your own melitzanosalata. This is not the traditional recipe. Traditionally only olive oil, vinegar and a bit of garlic is added to the aubergine. But for this week’s blog post we have experimented a bit.

We wanted to use tahini, even though this links more to the middle eastern baba ghanoush. But we love using tahini to add depth and warmth to our recipes. And a touch of honey to sweeten it a bit.

Preheat your oven to 180C. Using a fork pierce your aubergines all around. Place them in a roasting tray and into the oven. Roast your aubergines for around an hour, until very tender inside. Remove from the oven and let them cool down a bit.

Using a spoon, scape all the flesh and place it in a large bowl. Some people prefer to remove the seeds. We are not those people, we love using the entire vegetable. Mash the flesh with a fork. In a separate bowl whisk together your tahini, honey, olive oil, lemon juice. Combine the two and stir in the almonds. Mix well.

Alternatively, once you have the aubergine flesh, dump everything except the olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil towards the end.

Season with salt and add more oil or lemon if needed. Serve with the smoked paprika (if using).

This week, our oregano oil producer Michalis Georgaras is writing about his new product, the amazing organic, extra virgin olive oil & oregano essential oil, awarded by the Health & Nutrition Committee of the World Olive Center for health with the Bronze standard of Excellence Award. We are very excited to read his story!

Sharing food is a ritual in Greece. It is a sacred time when family and friends gather around the table, share large platters of food, talk, fight and joke around. Indeed, food brings people together here in Greece. But we don’t just share food. Around the table we share feelings and ideas, our joys and sorrows. The most important social events, the warmest family gatherings, all of these happen over hearty meals. Food is the social glue that brings people together…and this is exactly how our new product came into being. We were inspired by this togetherness of people -and oils as a matter of fact.

The initial idea originated three years ago. We wanted to make a fine culinary product, an olive oil flavoured with the unique aroma of our oregano. Something that would be both tasty and with health benefits. It took us two years of intensive research to create what I consider to be the finest culinary oil I could possibly put together.

And it was food once again that brought people together. My wife Anastasia and myself started meeting olive oil producers from all over Greece and trying their best varieties of olive oil. After tasting over thirty different types of olive oil, some of the best our country has to offer, we found just what we were looking for:

Remember our herby oil from last week? Well, we actually ended up making more and used it in various ways! This week we have a recipe for you with our favourite summer vegetable: aubergine! We love aubergine because it reminds us of our childhood summers. You see, in Greece this vegetable is used only during the summer and takes part in many traditional recipes, such as moussakas or briam. Some people also stuff it with rice or mince, or even bulgur wheat (and we actually did so in our last cooking workshop)!

And a little secret: You can plate this dish for your guests, or, what we prefer is to lay all ingredients (fried aubergine, cut cucumber, yogurt, caramelised onions, herby oil and so forth) separate at the table and let everyone make their own version.

Cut the aubergine in bite-sized pieces. In a shallow frying pan, and over medium heat place 2 tbsp of olive oil and half of the aubergine. You need to form a single layer, so that the aubergine doesn’t steam. Season with salt, pepper and ½ tsp of dried oregano. Gently fry the aubergine for approximately 10min until cooked inside and charred outside. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and the aubergine. Remove and set aside too.

Finely chop your onion and garlic.
Using the same frying pan, place 1tbsp of olive oil and over medium heat gently fry the onion, for approximately 5min, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes, until everything is caramelised. Remove and set aside.

Cut your cucumber in bite-sized pieces. Wash and dry your spinach.

To serve, lay the yogurt on each plate. Top with aubergine, onions, cucumber, spinach. Add the herby oil. Instead of the herby oil you can of course drizzle some olive oil and add fresh chopped herbs.

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